diff --git a/knotserver/git/tree.go b/knotserver/git/tree.go
index a01742f7..3553ccff 100644
--- a/knotserver/git/tree.go
+++ b/knotserver/git/tree.go
@@ -48,7 +48,17 @@ func (g *GitRepo) FileTree(ctx context.Context, path string) ([]types.NiceTree,
 func (g *GitRepo) makeNiceTree(ctx context.Context, subtree *object.Tree, parent string) []types.NiceTree {
 	nts := []types.NiceTree{}
 
-	times, err := g.calculateCommitTimeIn(ctx, subtree, parent, 2*time.Second)
+	entries := make([]string, len(subtree.Entries))
+	for _, e := range subtree.Entries {
+		entries = append(entries, e.Name)
+	}
+
+	lastCommitDir := lastCommitDir{
+		dir:     parent,
+		entries: entries,
+	}
+
+	times, err := g.lastCommitDirIn(ctx, lastCommitDir, 2*time.Second)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nts
 	}
diff --git a/knotserver/xrpc/repo_blob.go b/knotserver/xrpc/repo_blob.go
index 3c07b736..c8add0c7 100644
--- a/knotserver/xrpc/repo_blob.go
+++ b/knotserver/xrpc/repo_blob.go
@@ -147,14 +147,12 @@ func (x *Xrpc) RepoBlob(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(r.Context(), 2*time.Second)
 	defer cancel()
 
-	lastCommit, err := gr.GetLastCommitForPath(ctx, treePath)
+	lastCommit, err := gr.LastCommitFile(ctx, treePath)
 	if err == nil && lastCommit != nil {
-		shortHash := lastCommit.Hash.String()[:8]
 		response.LastCommit = &tangled.RepoBlob_LastCommit{
-			Hash:      lastCommit.Hash.String(),
-			ShortHash: &shortHash,
-			Message:   lastCommit.Message,
-			When:      lastCommit.When.Format(time.RFC3339),
+			Hash:    lastCommit.Hash.String(),
+			Message: lastCommit.Message,
+			When:    lastCommit.When.Format(time.RFC3339),
 		}
 
 		// try to get author information
diff --git a/knotserver/xrpc/repo_tree.go b/knotserver/xrpc/repo_tree.go
index 7e2ad01d..cb2cb929 100644
--- a/knotserver/xrpc/repo_tree.go
+++ b/knotserver/xrpc/repo_tree.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"tangled.org/core/api/tangled"
 	"tangled.org/core/appview/pages/markup"
 	"tangled.org/core/knotserver/git"
+	"tangled.org/core/types"
 	xrpcerr "tangled.org/core/xrpc/errors"
 )
 
@@ -107,5 +108,39 @@ func (x *Xrpc) RepoTree(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		},
 	}
 
+	// calculate lastCommit for the directory as a whole
+	var lastCommitTree *types.LastCommitInfo
+	for _, e := range files {
+		if e.LastCommit == nil {
+			continue
+		}
+
+		if lastCommitTree == nil {
+			lastCommitTree = e.LastCommit
+			continue
+		}
+
+		if lastCommitTree.When.After(e.LastCommit.When) {
+			lastCommitTree = e.LastCommit
+		}
+	}
+
+	if lastCommitTree != nil {
+		response.LastCommit = &tangled.RepoTree_LastCommit{
+			Hash:    lastCommitTree.Hash.String(),
+			Message: lastCommitTree.Message,
+			When:    lastCommitTree.When.Format(time.RFC3339),
+		}
+
+		// try to get author information
+		commit, err := gr.Commit(lastCommitTree.Hash)
+		if err == nil {
+			response.LastCommit.Author = &tangled.RepoTree_Signature{
+				Name:  commit.Author.Name,
+				Email: commit.Author.Email,
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
 	writeJson(w, response)
 }